Internal transfer and "Goods in transit": why goods disappear between warehouses and how to receive them correctly

Goods in transit: how to find missing goods and correctly receive an internal transfer

If, after an internal transfer, the goods disappeared from the sender’s warehouse but did not appear in the recipient’s warehouse, in most cases they are not lost but are located in the «Goods in transit» warehouse. In Torgsoft, this is a separate warehouse where goods are stored after shipment from the sender’s warehouse until they are received or returned. The goods will appear in the recipient’s warehouse only after the invoice is confirmed. This is the logic you should use to look for the cause of pending invoices, negative balances in transit, or duplicated receiving.

This instruction is intended for owners, administrators, and warehouse staff who work with goods transfers between accounting centers (stores/warehouses). The problem occurs when goods have been sent from one location but have not yet appeared or are displayed incorrectly in another. After following this instruction, you will understand how the Goods in transit warehouse works, be able to correctly process partial receiving, and resolve negative or pending stock balances.

What problems occur during an internal goods transfer

• A transfer was made, the goods left the warehouse, but did not appear in another store.

• There are negative balances in the «Goods in transit» warehouse.

• Fewer goods arrived than were sent. How should this be processed?

How to understand that goods are pending in transit

• The goods are absent from the main warehouses of the sender and the recipient, but the product movement card or reports show that they are located in the Goods in transit warehouse.

• Old unreceived invoices are pending in the «Warehouse» → «Goods in transit» menu.

• When trying to receive an invoice, the program displays a message about discrepancies between the declared and actual quantity.

How the «Goods in transit» warehouse works

The logic of Torgsoft is that «Goods in transit» is a separate warehouse where goods are stored after shipment and until receiving or return. When the sender creates an «Internal transfer» document and selects the «Goods in transit» checkbox, the program writes off the goods from their warehouse and adds them to the «Goods in transit» warehouse. Until the recipient opens the corresponding mode and clicks «Receive invoice», the goods will not appear in the final warehouse.

Reason A. Incomplete receiving: the goods are “pending”

The sender created an invoice, the goods physically arrived, but the recipient did not confirm their receipt in the program. Another option is that the invoice was created with a “future” date, so the static warehouse status build does not show the goods for the current day.

Reason B. Actual discrepancies during receiving

Not all goods arrived, or extra goods arrived. If the warehouse worker simply clicks «Receive invoice» without prior checking, the quantity specified by the sender will be posted to accounting, which may create a product mix-up or shortage.

Action algorithm

Choose the appropriate action scenario depending on your situation.

Scenario 1. Standard correct invoice receiving

If the goods have arrived, they must be correctly transferred from the Goods in transit warehouse to your accounting center:

1. Go to Warehouse → Goods in transit.

2. In the Invoices tab, select the required sender’s invoice and click the Check invoice button.

3. In the window that opens, double-click each product and enter the actual quantity that arrived. Repeat this for all items.

4. Click the Close invoice button. After this, changes in the invoice will be prohibited.

5. Click the Receive invoice button. The goods will be written off from the Goods in transit warehouse and appear in your warehouse.

Scenario 2. Receiving with discrepancies: fewer/more goods arrived

If in step 3 of the scenario above you entered a quantity that differs from the invoice:

1. After clicking Receive invoice, the program will display a message that there are products with discrepancies.

2. The program will offer to print a discrepancy report. Agree.

3. Then Torgsoft will ask for permission to create correction documents. Click Yes.

• Pay attention to the «Keep sender for goods in transit» checkbox in the upper-right corner of the window:

• If it is enabled: Torgsoft will first return all goods to the sender’s warehouse and then create a new direct invoice from the sender to the recipient for the actually confirmed quantity.

• If it is disabled: Torgsoft will create additional correction invoices for the surplus or shortage of goods.

Scenario 3. How to remove duplicates and negative balances from the «Goods in transit» warehouse

If you see negative balances in the Goods in transit warehouse:

1. Required step: go to Warehouse → Warehouse status and click the Recalculate product quantities in all warehouses button. After this, the negative balances should disappear.

Scenario 4. The invoice was created with a future date

If the goods are pending because the invoice was accidentally or intentionally created with a date that has not yet come:

1. Find this internal transfer in the register and open it for editing.

2. Change the document date to the current date.

3. Recalculate product quantities in all warehouses.

How to prevent goods from pending and receiving from duplicating

1. Always use the «Invoice check» mode before receiving the invoice. Do not click «Receive invoice» blindly if you have not physically counted the goods.

2. Set the creation of Goods in transit invoices by default. To avoid confusion, go to Settings → Parameters → General and enable the Create internal transfers to the Goods in transit warehouse by default checkbox. This way, sellers will not be able to accidentally transfer goods directly, bypassing the confirmation stage.

3. Restrict sellers’ permissions. In the role settings, prohibit regular employees from changing the status of closed and received invoices so that they cannot accidentally “roll back” product receiving.

4. Use the «Keep sender...» checkbox. When receiving goods, always enable the Keep sender for goods in transit checkbox. This will help keep a clear history of goods movement between specific stores without creating unclear correction acts from “nowhere”.

Frequently asked questions